Kentucky Avoids Sweep with 5-2 Win over Kennesaw State

After dropping the first two games of the series by a combined score of 23-3, Kentucky bounced back with a 5-2 win over Kennesaw State on Sunday to avoid the weekend sweep.

The Owls notched 10-plus hits on both Friday and Saturday, but were held to just five on Sunday. Mason Moore was phenomenal once again for the Cats.

Kentucky snaps its two-game skid, improving to 13-3 on the season.

Cats strike first for first time in series

For the first time this series, Kentucky jumped out to a lead first. The Cats had scored first in nine of their first 12 games entering the weekend.

Freshmen right fielder Eli Small and shortstop Kyuss Gargett opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back strikeouts, but grad transfer designated hitter Nick Lopez knocked a double to right center field to prolong the inning. Lopez’s double was his eighth of the season, which leads the team.

Junior second baseman Emilien Pitre followed Lopez’s double with one of his own, driving in Lopez from second for Kentucky’s first run of the game.

The Cats’ lead would only hold for an inning however, as the Owls would respond with an RBI sac-fly in the top of the third. Kentucky and Kennesaw were knotted at one apiece through three and a half innings.

Patrick Herrera puts Kentucky back in front

Patrick Herrera’s breakout season continued in the fourth inning, where he put the Cats back in front for good.

With runners on the corners following a Emilien Pitre walk and a Devin Burkes HBP, Herrera strolled up to bat. Herrera knocked a soft line drive into right field, scoring Pitre from third to put Kentucky back in front.

PATTY PICS DELIVERS 📸#WeAreUK x @PatrickCHerrera pic.twitter.com/eJeMnzCEA3

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) March 10, 2024

Herrera’s batting average rose to .351 following Sunday’s game, which ranks second on the team behind Nick Lopez (.417).

Kentucky scored two more runs in the inning, both on sacrifice bunts. First it was Mitch Daly bunting down the first base line to score Burkes from third. Ryan Nicholson followed Daly’s with a bunt back to the pitcher, which he fumbled, allowing Herrera to slide in safely.

Suddenly, Kentucky had jumped out to a 4-1 lead.

“I was really proud of Pitre, Devin Burkes, Mitch Daly, and Pat Herrera,” Nick Mingione said postgame. “They just gave us unbelievable at-bats. They just grinded but those guys really stood out with their competitiveness in the box.”

Mason Moore near-perfect on Sunday

Mason Moore’s seamless transition from reliever to starter has been one of the brightest aspects of Kentucky’s season so far.

Moore pitched seven (6 1/3 no-hit) innings on Sunday, allowing just one hit and no earned runs while striking out three batters.

Moore’s ERA dropped down to 2.08, which leads Kentucky’s weekend starters by a wide margin. His 2.08 ERA is tied for 16th best among starters in the SEC.

Mason Moore’s stellar day is over.

🔹 7.0 IP
🔹 1 H
🔹 0 ER
🔹 3 K

ERA lowers to 2.08.

pic.twitter.com/ZZLNwgsbCF

— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) March 10, 2024

“We knew that [Kennesaw State] was aggressive and our plan was to attack the strike zone with the sinker,” Moore said postgame. “I got a lot of ground balls today and the defense helped me out a lot.”

Kentucky avoids the sweep

Kennesaw State threatened with an RBI-double in the top of the eighth to pull within two, but the Cats immediately reclaimed their three-run lead with a Mitch Daly RBI-groundout in the latter half inning.

RHP Trey Pooser, who entered with two outs in the eighth, finished the Owls off in the ninth to cement the Wildcat victory.

“I told our team, what we want to do is learn,” Mingione said postgame. “We want to learn from our wins and we want to learn from our losses. We learned a lot about our team and our personnel. That’s all we can ask for is for them to make adjustments to learn and get better and I believe that’s what we did today.”

Kentucky hosts Murray State on Tuesday before they open SEC play at home against Georgia on Saturday, March 15.